In Jordan, website hacked after running sensitive statement

New York, February 9, 2011--A Jordanian news website was
hacked on Sunday after it refused to comply with demands from security agents
to remove a critical statement from Jordanian tribesmen, the outlet said. The
Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Jordanian authorities to immediately
investigate the attack on Ammon News, one of the most popular news
websites in Jordan.

On Saturday, Ammon News published a joint statement
by 36 powerful tribal figures calling for democratic and economic reforms in
Jordan and warning of civil unrest if they were not implemented quickly. Because
the kingdom relies on support from the leaders of Jordan's sizable tribal
population, any public split is seen as sensitive.

Sameer al-Hiyari, Ammon's editor-in-chief, and Basel
Okoor, the managing editor, received phone calls that day from security agents
calling the statement "a threat to national security" and demanding that it be
removed, said Banan F. Malkawi, another Ammon News editor. The callers
also made what Malkawi called personal and professional threats against the top
editors.

On Sunday, she said, hackers deleted the tribal leaders'
statement from the Ammon News website and manipulated other content, adding
and deleting readers' comments. The entire website became inaccessible about
midday Monday, Malkawi said, and readers were redirected to a page that said:
"The site was hacked because you work against the security of Jordan." The news
outlet was able to restore the site later in the day. Malkawi said work e-mail
accounts, along with the personal e-mail accounts of top editors, also became
inaccessible, a problem that continued into mid-week.

Ammon News accused Jordanian intelligence of hacking
its website, according to a statement released by the news outlet. On Tuesday,
the official Petra News Agency quoted an unidentified "official source" as
having "categorically denied reports that some security authorities had hacked
a news website and interfered in its work."

"Coming after events in Tunisia and Egypt, the hacking of an
independent Jordanian news website covering calls for democratic reform is
particularly disturbing," said Mohamed Abdel Dayem, CPJ's Middle East and North
Africa program coordinator. "We call on the Jordanian authorities to thoroughly
investigate the attacks on Ammon News and ensure that King Abdullah's
public commitment to upholding press freedom is respected by all."

On November 29, 2010, King Abdullah II said
that "the government will continue to develop its
relationship with the media so that this relationship is based on the respect
of media's right to operate freely and independently, and to access information
and its dissemination."

Another Jordanian news website was hacked last year after
publishing critical material. The news site Allofjo, which said its website content was altered
in offensive ways on multiple occasions in 2010, accused Jordanian authorities
in October of being responsible for the repeated attacks. Allofjo said the
hacking took place when articles critical of the government were published. Security
officials did not respond at the time.